


The Green Menace

by AllonsyAvengers



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: 1960s, Angst, Eventual Happy Ending, Fluff, LGBTQ Character, New Companions (Doctor Who), New York, Ninth Doctor Era, OC, Original Character(s), Period-Typical Homophobia, Post-Time War (Doctor Who), Pre-Episode: s01e01 Rose, The Doctor (Doctor Who) is a Gay Mess, The Doctor (Doctor Who) is a Mess, The Doctor is Not Okay (Doctor Who), doctor who - Freeform, im really enjoying these tags, its really chaotic, ok thats enough, self contained story
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-01
Updated: 2021-02-10
Packaged: 2021-03-18 13:54:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,481
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29119296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AllonsyAvengers/pseuds/AllonsyAvengers
Summary: 1960s new york. a mysterious new illness is taking over the city's hospitals and also, completely by accident, brings into Mike Sheperd's life an even more mysterious man who just can't seem to let go of him.an original self contained doctor who story (set in pre-rose ninth doctor era)
Relationships: The Doctor (Doctor Who) & Original Character(s)





	1. The Beginning

1967\. Brooklyn, New York.  
"thanks Jerry!" said a scruffy looking boy with brown frizzled hair and a leather jacket. He took the groceries laying on the counter and left the shop. A big red sign saying JERRY'S HUB: CHEAPEST PRICES IN NEW YORK was lighting up Mike's face as he left the store. After only a few steps of walking, the boy sighed and stopped near a bench. He lay his bags on the bench, next to a grumpy middle-aged woman who looked like she was patiently waiting for god to come down from heaven. Mike took out a small note from his pocket and stared at in intensely. "ok, oranges- check. Milk- check. Cola- check." He whispered to himself, though clearly not enough to himself since he was getting strange looks from the woman on the bench. "fuck." He whispered, in an even lower voice than before. He forgot the damn eggs again. His mother would be so annoyed if he came back without them. 

"um, excuse me, miss?" "huh? You talking to me, kid?" the woman asked, clearly annoyed by the interruption of her nothing-ness. "uh, yeah. Could you possibly look over my groceries for just a minute while I go get eggs? The store is right here around the corner, Jerry's? you know it?" he stopped when he realized he was rambling. Mike had a habit of not knowing when to stop talking, and not understanding the social queues trying to get him to stop. The woman looked at mike up and down, like she's trying to evaluate whether that leather jacket has some sort of deeper meaning. At last, she nodded and said "sure, kid. Just get back soon, will you?" "Definitely, ma'am. I'll be back in a second!" he said as he was walking away hastily, with his face still facing the lady as he was walking backwards, finally turning around at the street corner. 

He stepped into Jerry's and the man at the counter, Jerry, was laughing. "what'd you forget this time, kid?" "oh, shut up, and- eggs." Said Mike, half laughing and half ashamed. When he thinks about it, he really can't remember a single time when he didn't forget one thing or another from the shop. "I make you a list for a reason, don't you ever look at it?" his mom used to say. Mike quickly grabbed the eggs and placed them on the counter. "nothin' else?" asked Jerry. "I sure hope not!" said mike and they both laughed. He pulled out a few coins from his pocket, coins that he put there just a minute ago from the change that Jerry gave him. He started counting them and making calculations, trying to figure out how many quarters and nickels is the egg's 49 cents. The longer he was counting, the more nervous he got. Mike knew that really, there was nothing to worry about. But sometimes, he would get so anxious about the most meaningless things. After a while a short line had started to form behind him and Jerry was starting to look impatient, despite the friendly banter they had just moments earlier. Jerry grabbed a few coins from Mike's palm, completely at random, and said "that's about right. See you another time, yeah, pal?" in a slightly annoyed yet friendly as always tone. Mike murmured a "thank you" though he couldn’t really function. All he wanted now was to go home, lock himself in his room, get under the blankets and not have another social interaction for approximately three years. But for now, he had to get back to his groceries. 

He wasn't completely sure that the lady hadn't just left his stuff on that bench and walked off the moment he was out of her sight, but to Mike's surprise, when he came back the lady had still been sitting there, in the exact same pose as she was when he left. He went up to the bench and put the carton of eggs inside one of the bags laying there. But as he began to say thank you to the lady, her hands suddenly clenched her heart and she started trembling. 

Mike completely froze. What was happening to her? Why is she doing that? Was it his fault? He wanted to shout at her- "stop it! Just stop it!" but even if that stupid idea had been tried, Mike doesn't think he could even get the words out of his mouth. He was completely frozen. All he was thinking was- here it is. This is what your parents talked about when you said that social anxiety isn't that bad as long as you never go out. They said that one day, sometime, you would be in a situation where you had to do something, you had to act. But you couldn't. because every time there's conflict, Mike, you freeze! You freeze and shake and run off! Not this time, dad. He thought. Just you wait, I'll prove you wrong, just watch me. 

Mike snapped out of his stress-induced coma and quickly remembered the woman in front of him was dying. While he was frozen, her shaking had become a lot worse and her face was slowly turning into a vile shade of green. Mike started to scream "Doctor! Doctor! Is there a doctor here? Please, somebody help! This woman is dying!" loads of people were passing through, staring at Mike and at the choking lady, people he hadn't noticed until he turned around to shout, but no one said anything, and no one stepped up. After what felt like forever (but was probably just a minute or so) of Mike shouting and shouting and the woman choking and choking, a man with big ears, a big nose and a leather jacket just like Mike's ran out of the crowd that had gathered up and said, in a kind of northern British accent, "you called for a Doctor?"


	2. The Taxi

Mike looked up at the strange man in front of him. He didn’t quite know what to make of him, a British accent, a leather jacket, a buzzcut and an aggressive looking face. for a second, all Mike could think about is how those cheekbones could totally give him a papercut if they tried. He suddenly noticed that the man was not standing in front of him anymore, but is crouching over the lady on the bench, who was still choking and was getting even greener, if that was even possible. The man tried to get her attention, but she didn’t seem to hear him. Then he tried to lay her on her side, but then stopped and said "oi! Kid, take those bags, will you?". The damn bags, with the damn eggs. He thought about how he could have just forgot the eggs, walked away and never had got involved with the choking lady on the bench. But then he thought how that doesn’t really matter now, what matters is helping that strange man save her. Mike knew that it wasn’t his fault, after all, he only said a few words to the lady. But for some reason, he still felt an aching sense of guilt in his stomach. "kid!" the man screamed again.  
Mike quickly snapped back and took the bags from the bench, only for the man to not lay her down on the bench, but to carry her around his shoulder and try to walk towards the main road. "did you not hear me? I said go and try to find us a taxi! We need to take her to hospital!" no, I didn’t hear you. He wanted to say. I was going crazy in my own mind like always. But mike stayed silent, instead just getting the lady on his shoulder from the other side and getting them to the road. Some of the people in the crowd that had gathered up around them, and that Mike had basically forgotten about, were waving their arms around and calling for a cab. One had quickly stopped, probably seeing all the people flailing their arms around and thinking it could get a good price stuffing them all in there. When the taxi stopped, Mike and the man made their way through the people and the man opened the door. First, he got the choking woman in, pushing her to the seat furthest from the sidewalk. Then, he got in and scooted over to the middle seat. Then he looked at mike and said, "well get in then!" and before Mike was even able to think about it, he did.  
"to the nearest hospital, please hurry, this woman is dying!" the man yelled at the driver. The driver was a middle-aged guy with a very big moustache, and at the moment looked like he was about to faint. "oh, Jesus, oh Jesus Christ. Lord help me." Then he turned around and started driving. The woman had gotten quiet and for a moment Mike had assumed the worst. But the man quickly assured him that she was just unconscious, and that maybe she could even breathe better that way. "I'm Mike." He said after a long, quite minute. "nice to meet you Mike. I'm the Doctor." "staying official, I suppose." Mike murmured. "official? how come?" he asked. "no, well, I just meant, I already know you're a doctor. You came when I called for a doctor, right?" "well, yeah, I guess. But it's also how everyone calls me." He said with a sincere smile on his face. "what, people call you Doctor" the Doctor nodded. "even your friends and like, your wife and stuff?" "well, I don’t have a wife, but all my friends do!" Mike was considering whether to take that fact about him not having a wife into account, but he decided to just leave it. There are more important things going on in the moment. He gave the Doctor a shrug, as if to say 'I don’t understand any of this but I guess I'm going along with it'. And boy he did.  
"shit." He whispered. "what's wrong?" asked the Doctor with genuine concern in his eyes. "the eggs. I mean, the bags with the eggs and the oranges and stuff. I need to get it home. I must've dropped it when we got on the cab." Mike took a deep breath. "I only went out to get groceries, why am I in a cab with two complete strangers on our way to the hospital? I don’t know this woman! She can die for all I care!" the Doctor looked concerned, yet spoke in a calm voice when he said "I know you don’t mean that, Mike-oh, I don’t like Mike, how 'bout Mikey?" "you have no idea whether I mean that or not! You don’t know me! And you can't just pretend we're best buddies by calling me Mikey! Which I hate, by the way!" "you're right." Said the Doctor." I don't know you. But I can sense that you have a good heart. No one forced you to get in the cab, but you felt it was the right thing to do, so you did it"  
"whatever, Doctor-man. When we get to the hospital I'll just catch a bus home."  
The Doctor looked disappointed, but said "yeah, maybe you should. I shouldn't…"  
"what?"  
"I promised myself I won't put more people at risk by keeping them around me. I'm sorry, I don't know why I'm telling you this."  
"my mom tells me I have a trusty face. People tend to say, well, stuff. To me"  
"yeah, I get that too. A face you can tell your secrets to."  
Mike blushed a bit and said "well your face is very-" he coughed in a way that was so obviously fake even the driver laughed. "yeah, um.. yeah." "no wait, my face is very what?" the doctor said, laughing. "special" mike whispered, his cheeks getting even redder then before. "remind me, in twentieth century slang, is that a good or a bad thing? Special?" but before Mike could answer, the driver yelled "we're here! Take that poor woman inside! May the lord help her, oh god…".  
The Doctor looked like he had just turned a switch in his brain, the laughing, quirky man who made mike blush was gone, and a dark, serious man had appeared. A man with the only goal of saving that woman. He opened the door that was on the woman's side and climbed above her to get out, avoiding touching her to not trigger anything. He picked her up and carried her on his hands, looking like he was holding a sheet of paper and not a grown woman. He ran to the doors and some paramedics were already coming towards him. "woman in her mid-40s. she started choking and then went unconscious. Green virus on her chest. It's spreading." He shouted. The paramedics gave each other knowing looks and ran to grab the lady and put her on a stretcher. In the meanwhile, Mike had gotten out from the taxi and gave the driver some of the nickels and dimes he had in his pocket, the change from Jerry's. after he realized that cannot be enough to pay for the drive, the driver just said "oh, forget it young man. You did a good thing, you shouldn't pay for it." Mike gave him a polite smile and the man just drove away.  
Mike turned around to see the doctor still standing there, staring at doors of the hospital. He was just about to turn back around and leave when he saw the doctor turning around and running towards him. "will she be okay?" mike asked when the Doctor got to a hearing distance of him. "they don’t know, but…" the doctor closed his eyes and closed his palms into fists. "ah, I promised myself a wouldn’t do this, but…" he paused. "have you ever seen anything like that infection? A green virus eating you up that quickly?" Mike sighed and shook his head to say 'no. of course not.' "well, the paramedics sure seemed familiar with it. In fact, they said 'take her up to the department'. They have a whole department of that thing!" "okay? It's a hospital? They have departments for illnesses, doctor." "I knew that infection looked sketchy from the moment I saw it. It might be alien." Mike looked at the Doctor as if he'd just hit him in the head with a baseball bat. "please tell me you're joking." "I wish I was." The Doctor looked seriously frightened, like he doesn't know what he's about to get himself into. And then he said "well, do you want to come? See what's it's all about?" "I thought you said you don’t keep anyone close to you anymore" said mike, smirking. "rules are made to be broken."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok this story is starting to get somewhere!! i'll try to release a chapter every week hopefully but honestly idk what i'm doing soooo lmao

**Author's Note:**

> ok so i've had this idea for so looong now and only now gotten around to actually writing the first chapter lmao,, this is going to develop in really cool places believe me so just let me know if it sucks so i can fix the problems for the next chapter lol hope you enjoy :)


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